Total Pageviews

Sunday, June 29, 2014

The cross-border travels of Canadians will come under additional
scrutiny beginning Monday.

It’s part of an expanded security plan by the Canada Border Services
Agency to include information-sharing on all travelers.

The
tracking system involves exchanging entry information collected at the Canada-U.S.
land borders so that data on entry to one country would serve as a record of
exit from the other.

This will allow the Canadian government to use the data for such things
as catching unemployment insurance cheats to ensuring people ineligible to stay
in Canada have left the country.

Canada also wants to begin collecting information on people leaving by
air, which is already done by the United States, by requiring airlines to
submit passenger manifest data for outbound international flights.

The
first two phases of the program were limited to foreign nationals and permanent
residents of Canada and the U.S., but not citizens of either country.

The
entry-exit initiative is a key element of the perimeter security deal intended
to help ease the passage of travelers and cargo across the Canada-U.S. border
while bolstering continental security.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Bullish predictions about Canada’s economic recovery were dimmed
somewhat after a tough winter that slowed spending.

The economy surprised the experts as it dipped to 1.2-percent growth in
the first three months of the year, the slowest pace since the fourth quarter
of 2012.

The output slowed in numerous key sectors and was partially blamed on
the harsh winter weather – a similar situation as in the United States where
the economy contracted by 1 percent in the first quarter.

Economists had predicted Canada’s growth at 1.8 percent while the Bank
of Canada had expected 1.5 percent.

Central
bank governor Stephen Poloz had called on business owners to make new investments
and improve productivity to push the economy into the next phase of the
recovery.

Instead, investment in machinery and equipment fell by 1.5 percent,
spending on computers was down 4.1 percent and exports fell 0.8 percent.

The report is expected to be another factor for the bank to keep the key
interest rate and borrowing costs low.